Thursday, January 11, 2018 1:00 am

Friday commute could be slick

JAMIE DUFFY | The Journal Gazette

Fort Wayne police were busy Wednesday morning answering calls on vehicle accidents as fog and icy road conditions led to many slide-offs.

Between 5 and 9 a.m., police responded to 45 crashes with property damage and three with personal injury, said Michael Joyner, Fort Wayne Police Department public information officer.

He did not have a condition on any of the personal-injury accidents.

Friday morning could produce the same conditions, according to Kyle Brown, meteorologist for the National Western Service near Syracuse.

“During the morning commute, temperatures will be right near freezing, with rain changing to that (wintry) mix,” Brown said. “Pavement can respond very quickly to that, so it does look like slick spots for the Friday morning commute.”

Today, temperatures are expected to reach the mid-50s, near record-breaking highs, but rain tonight will change to a wintry mix by Friday morning, setting the stage for icy road conditions, he said.

Joyner said people should take precautions such as driving slower and keep a greater distance from other cars, start out earlier in the morning, fill up the gas tank and think about buying a bag of cat litter in case they get stuck in the snow and ice.